The inflamed political rhetoric around Australia’s 457 visa regime is already making some would-be hirers question whether the visa rules are going to change, potentially making it harder for local companies to hire specialist skills.

Mexia
helps businesses convert their IT systems to cloud-based ones and two of its 12 employees are already in Australia on 457 visas. Projects director Mathew Coleman says a third candidate he’s been in talks with already raised fears about the possibility of a change to the rules that could shut him out.

“He’s been saying: ‘Are the rules going to change? Can you hire me now so I can get in before the rules change?’" Coleman says. “I would say that there’s been recognition globally with people we talk to that the rules may change to prevent niche resources coming in. That’s not something we want to see at all."

The debate has not scrutinised which industries are subject to abuse in the 457 program, designed to fill short-term skills gaps in the economy, and all users – as well as potential users – are being tarred with the same brush, Coleman says. Abuse, where it occurs, is more likely in the job market for more commoditised tasks, such as in construction, and not at the niche-skills end, he says.

“The argument in Australia is one-sided and full of rhetoric, focused on the commoditised end of the market," said to BRW on Tuesday. “I have no doubt there are cases of 457 visa rorts. However it’s a complex debate and the benefits to Australian companies are often left out of the conversation."

Making growth harder

In the case of Mexia, which last week took 71st place out of the top 100 on BRW’s Fast Starters list of growing companies, a politicised debate that scares away talent from Australia will make it harder for new businesses to grow.

“We compete against global competitors – we’re not operating just in a local market – and need access to the same the global resources as our competitors," he says. “Our ability to rapidly grow, respond to, and compete on the world stage is an aspect of the debate that is overlooked."

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Separately, Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor was this week unable to provide evidence to back up his earlier claims that the number of illegitimate users of 457 visas was as high as 10,000. Figures released by his own department this week show as few as 125 sponsors of 457 visa holders were formally sanctioned in 2011-12; another 449 sponsors were warned and 49 were issued with an infringement notice, The Australian Financial Review reported.

With an election due on September 14, the government kicked the issue into political territory, notably by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who early last month said she wanted to curb abuse of the scheme to “stop foreign workers being put at the front of the queue with Australian workers at the back". She subsequently took a swipe at the IT industry itself, saying it hired foreigners instead of spreading economic opportunities around to Australians.

The comments earned a fierce rebuke from another industry figure, Atlassian founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, who took to Twitter to denounce her comments, pointing out that she could not praise IT for being part of the future of the company while complaining about its import of scarce talent.